Ice cream vendor



W. W. HAMEL ICEv CREAM VENDOR May 6, 1941.

Filed May. 27. 19

2 Sheets-Sheet l f I r l z f May 6, 1941. w. w. HAMEL 2,240,928

1cm CREAM VENDOR Filed May 27, 1938 2 sheets-sheet 2 Zl/ Z Z/ 38 25 lg F /Z/ .7. Fly [WC INVENTOR ATTOR YS Patented May 6,1941 y l rcs camu vnNDon.

William W. AHaine-l, lisabeth, N. J., asslgnor to Laham Corporation, Wilmington; Del., a corpo- Y ration of Delaware Application May-zr,- iass, sei-inno. 210,331

s claim.. l(ci. aia-ss) This invention relates to improvements in ice.

cream vendors of the type refrigerated by solidified carbon dioxide and having a. coin controlled,deliverylmechanlsm. y Y

Its principal objects are to provide a simplified construction of such devices whereby their thermal characteristics are improved, and to provide a simple and effective mechanism for de livering packages one at a time from a plurality of packages store'd within the apparatus.

Other objects will appear in the following specication in which an embodiment lof the invention will be described and its novel features pointed out in appended claims.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a sectional side elevation of an ice.,

cream vendor which is made according to and embodies the present invention.. The section is taken on the llne.|,-l of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a sectional front elevation of the apparatus shown ln Fig. 1, the. section being taken Y on the irregular line 2-2 of the latter figure;

Fig, 3 is a sectional plan view of the same apparatus, the section being taken on the line I-.3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a part of the device, showing the novel parts of its operatingl mechanism;

i the plate l1 and a part of the'insulation mem.

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are plan views of three'rev frigerant supports of different thermal capacities,

a desired one of which is selected for use for a known range of outside temperature condition.

In the drawings, III designates a metallic magazine for holding packages. It comprises a plurality of parallel plates il dividing it into I2 is the back of the compartments, A, B, C. D. magazine. I3 isa buffer space at the rear of the back l2.v This space Iis closed at the top and bottom by blocks I5, I i, except for perforations It therein, which are provided for a purpose which win be pointes out later. A heavy mennlic plate l1 lies over the top of the magazine il and extends downwardly for a short distance over its sides, as shown in Fig. 2.

The upper and lower parts-of the front of the magazine are closed by metallic plates li and II. A metallic door 20 is provided to give access to the interior of the magazine and to closegthe space between the plates II, Il. The door ,2l is hinged to the lower front plate I! at 2l and can be swung. down to the position in which'iit is indicated at 20A in Fig. 1 to form a service shelf. When closed it is in intimate contact with the iront edges of the plates Il and is held in .its

` closed position by a latch 22. Thus, the magalow the lower door 2,2, for a purpose which will zine when the door is shut, forms an al1-metallic lstructure which is entirely closed except at the bottom. 4

v `The back and sides of the magazine are covered by bodies of insulation 30, ll, 3l outside of which are the back 40 and sides 4I, ll of a casing which encloses the whole apparatus. 32 is-an insulation member which extends between the side bodies 3|, 3| from the plate Il to the front of the casing. 33 is another insulation member between the sides Il. Il extending Vfrom the plate l! to the front of the casing. 2l is anlnsulatlng door in front of the magazine door 20. It is hinged at 24 and arranged to nt into shoulders 3l, 3l on the insulation mem-` Y shoulders, 3l, Il, l1 on the side bodies 3|, 3l. Gaskets 3l arebers 32, respectively, and

provided around the edges of the door against which the door i's forced by a clamping device 2i. The back and sides 3l, 3l, 3l extend vupwardly above the magazine I0 to form a refrigerant chamber 50, the bottom ofwhich is formed by ber 32. The plate extends forwardly from the magazine and its front edge is bent upwardly. as at IIA (Fig. 1). The top of the refrigerant chamber is formed by a body of insulation Il over which is the top I2 of the casing. l2 is an insulating door, hinged at II for closing the front of the refrigerant chamber. It ilts shoulders M. il formed in the insulation member I2, shoulders II, il formed in the body 5I and'similar shoulders in the side bodies Il, Il. Gaskets Il are provided against' which the door lmay be forced by a suitable clamping device suchas that shown at 2l in Fig. 3'for the door 21. Il is a baille plate spaced from the'back body of insula- I tion Il, extending upwardly from the plate Il to a line near the top of the refrigerant chamber.

lathe front of the casing, which is provided with a door M over its part whichis in front of the doors 28 and I2 and extending somewhat beappear later.

il is a cylindrical ejector of insulating materiai under the magazine' l0, the plates Il of which extend into grooves in the ejector. The

ejector is amxed to a shaft Il by means` of which it is actuated. y The periphery of the ejectork is out awayto form segmental pockets 62 spaced apart, each of which is alined with oneV of thecompartments of the magasine.v Each of-the pockets is formed with a shoulder t3. The uncut periphery of the elector supports columns of packages 84 of ice cream (in the specific embodiment herein described), in `the compartments of the magazine, suiliciently above the lower edge of the plate I9 to prevent their removal. When the ejector is rotated to bring one of the pockets 82 into register rwith its respective compartment, the column of packages in that particular compartment moves downwardly a sufilcient ampunt to bring its lowermost package below the lower edge of plate I8. Further rotation of the ejector through 90 will cause the shoulder 83 of the pocket, into which one of the packages has dropped, to force this package forwardly out of the magazine and will bring another pocket 62 into alinement with another of the magazine compartments. .Y

The ejector is within a space 85 surrounded by an inner casing into which the oriilcein the lower block I opens. 'I'his inner casing has an inclined ledge 68 acrossthe front of the ejector. 81 'is a valve chamber through which the ejected package passes into a chute 18. The front of the valve chamber is formed by a body member 68 of insulation above and between the f chute 10 and the front 43. of the casing and by. a slide 89 between the insulation member 33 and the insulation body 88. Thisslide may be removed for inspection of the parts within the valve chamber. When closed it abuts a gasket.

The side of the chute directly below the valve chamber converges, as shownuin Fig. 2, and form the sides of a delivery opening 1I in the front 43 of the casing. A` flap 12 amxed to a shaft 13 lies over the delivery opening. It is adapted to be raised manually to the position indicated by dotted lines at 12A in Fig. 1 to give access to the interior of the chute. The passage through the chute is closed by an auxiliary flap 14 when the flap 12 is raised. This is effected by mechanism shown in Fig, 4. Auxiliary flap 14 is aillxed to a shaft 15. Levers 18 and 11 are aillxed to shafts 13, 15, respectively, and their outer ends are interconnected by a link18. 19 is another lever ailixed to shaft 13 for the purpose of locking the iiaps'during a desired part of the operation. A pin |03 projects laterally from one side of the free end of this lever 19.

80 isa valve in chamber 61 aflxed to a shaft el. n has a soft resnient end adapted to rest on the ledge 88 to form therewith a substantially air-tight closure. To further seal this joint a nap 82 or the like is affixed to thevalve 80. This effectively closes the passage between the ejector chamber 65 and the valve chamber 81 when valve 80 isclosed. The passage from the valve chamber 61 into chute 10 is similarly closed by a valve 83 on a shaft 84 which seatsagainst a vertical wall of an inner casing which fonns the ejector chamber 85. Valve 83 is provided preferably with a soft resilient edge. Shafts 8|, '84 are interconnected by levers 85, 88 and link V81 shown in Fig. 4, vand the valves are held seated by a weight 88 on a lever 89 ailixed to shaft 84.

90 is a coin detector which releases an actuating lever 9| so arranged that when pulled down it will move a toothed rack 92 to the right, as viewed in Fig. 4. Details of this mechanism are not shown as they form no part of my invention.

A pinion 93 loosely mounted on the ejector shaft, meshes with the teeth on bar 92. It carries a pawl arm 84 and pawl 95 which engages a ratchet 98 fast on shaft 6| and imparts a quarter of a revolution to the ejector every time lever 9| is pulled do'wn.

98 is an arm'aixed to rack 92 and connected by a slotted link 99 with a. pin on a lever |00 ailixed to shaft 84. Another arm |0| aflixed to rack 92 has an extension |02 which passes over the pin |03 which projects from lever 'I8 and has a return bar |04 alongside of lever 19, the upper surface of which is directly below the pin |03. This return bar terminates at a point just short of the path of travel of the pin.

The initial movement of the rack 92 moves the return bar |04 under the pin |03 and thereby locks shafts 13, 15 sothat the flaps 12, 'I4 cannot be opened during further movement of the bar 92 or until it has been returned to its initial position by spring |05. It is tobe noted that pawl 95 engages ratchet 96 and link l99 engages the pin on lever |00 after the initial movement of simultaneously opens valves 80, 83 to allowan ejected package to pass through valve chamber i 81 into chute 10 and to a position directly back of flap 12. 'I'he latter can be raised only after valves 80 and 83 are closed and when flap 12 is raised to open the discharge outlet, lflap 14 is raised to close the passage through the chute. Thus, no air will pass up through the chute and the valve chamber to the refrigerated magazine and ejector chamber.

Refrigeration is effected by placing solidified carbon dioxide I|0 in the refrigerant chamber 50. This is enclosed in a bag ||I which retards its evaporation and absorbs any oil which may be entrained in it. If the thermal conductivity of the magazinev I0 and the plate I1 are so proportioned and designed that the temperature of thel package compartments would .be too low, a supporting plate II2 may be interposed lbetween the bag and the plate I1. This supporting plate has lugs III of the needed number. size andmaterial to eil'ect the needed rate of heat exchange to produce the desired temperature in the apparatus. In order to meet changing con- 1 ditions such as those caused by different outside temperatures, a number of these supporting plates are provided for each vendor, such as those shown at II2A, |I2B and |I2C in Figs. 5, 6 and "I, having different numbers of spacing lugs. Similar results'may be attained by varying the size of the lugs or the material of which they are made.

I have found it advantageous to make the sides and top of the refrigerant material of insulating material without a metallic lining,

as such a lining acts as a thermalconductor and rapidlydistributes the low temperature produced by the sublimation of the CO: toA the insulation. The inner surfaces of the refrigeration chamber are, however, coated with an impermeable varnish, as I use an insulation mate-l rial which does not require the permeation of CO2 gas to prevent its deterioration and as I desire to use the gas for a different purpose.

'I'he bailie'plate 89 causes the heavier CO2 gas to replace the air within the chamber which retards sublimation, and the gas ows over it and down through the buffer space I3 into the ejector chamber 85. It serves to cool both the magazine and the ejector. The restricted open-V ing i5 -between the buffer space and the ejector chamber prevents the too rapid escape of the gas The apparatus herein shown and described embodies my invention in a practical structure, but many structural modifications can be made within its spirit and scope, and I intend no limitations other than those imposed by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An ice cream vendor comprising a vertical refrigerated magazine, an ejector below the magazine, a discharge chute below and at one side of the ejector, a valve chamberbetween the ejector and the upper end of the chute, a valve in said chamber arranged to close said valve chamber, and opening mechanism for actuating the ejector and the valve together.

"2. An ice cream vendor comprising a vertical refrigerated magazine, an ejector below the magazine, a discharge chute below and atone side of the ejector, a passage between the ejector and the upper end of the chute, a valve between the magazine andthe upper end of the chute, another valve in said passage spaced from the first mentioned valve, said valves being arranged" to close said passage, and mechanism for actuating the ejector and said valves together.

3. An ice cream vendor comprising a vertical refrigerated magazine, an ejector below the magazine, a discharge chute below and at one side ofthe ejector, the lower end of said chute forming a delivery opening, a manually movable ilap over the delivery opening, and a mechanism side of the ejector, the lower end of said chute forming a delivery opening, a manually movable iiap over the delivery opening, a passage between the ejector and the upper end of the chute,` a

valve between the magazine and the upper end of the chute arranged to close said passage, and mechanism for actuating the ejector and the valve together, said mechanism including means for locking the iiap.

5. An ice cream vendor comprising a vertical refrigerated magazine, an ejector below the ing movement of the flap over the delivery openfor locking the flap and thereafter actuating the ejector.

4. Anice cream vendor comprising a vertical refrigerated magazine, an ejector below the magazine, a discharge chute below and at one ing, and a mechanism for locking the flaps and thereafter actuating the ejector.

6. An ice cream vendor comprising a vertical refrigerated magazine, van ejector below the magazine, adischarge chute. below and at one side of the ejector, a passage between the ejector and the uppei1 end of the chute, a valve between the magazine and the upper end of the chute, another valve in said passage spaced from the rst mentioned valve, said Valves being arranged to close said passage, the lower end of said chute forming a delivery opening, a manually movable flap over the delivery opening, anV auxiliary ap in the chute arranged to =be closed by the opening movement of the flap over the delivery opening, and a mechanism for locking the flaps and thereafter actuating the ejector and the valves.

WILLIAM W. HAMEL. 

